Sister: Tutor killed in crash was 'the person I looked up to'

Friends and family of Alex Martinez gather outside of the Tutoring Club in Fountain Valley to share stories and give condolences to his family. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

1 of 13

Friends of Alex Martinez share stories during a vigil outside the Tutoring Club in Fountain Valley. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

1 of 13

Friends and family of Alex Martinez gather outside of the Tutoring Club in Fountain Valley to share stories and give condolences to his family. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

1 of 13

Alex Martinez's brother Marcelo Martinez shares stories about his brother during a vigil outside the Tutoring Club in Fountain Valley. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

1 of 13

Employees of the Tutoring Club, an after-school academic program at Brookhurst Street and Ellis Avenue, console one another after a car crashed into the building, driving nearly through the back wall, injuring five people Monday afternoon. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 13

George Tran, left, with tutoring colleague Alex Martinez, right, poses during a trip to Disneyland in 2012. Police said Martinez died a day after being struck by a Buick at the Tutoring Club, an academic learning center in Fountain Valley. COURTESY OF DAVID HILL

1 of 13

Authorities assess the damage caused when a car crashed into the Tutoring Club in Fountain Valley on Monday afternoon injuring five people. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 13

Bystanders watch as firefighters and police respond to the Tutoring Center in Fountain Valley Monday afternoon after a car crashed into the front of the building, injuring five people. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 13

The back wall of Tutoring Club shows the damage caused when a car crashed through the front and hit the back wall of the business located at Brookhurst Street and Ellis Avenue in Fountain Valley. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 13

Gwen Martinez embraces friends and family during a vigil for her brother Alex Martinez outside the Tutoring Club in Fountain Valley. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

1 of 13

A friend of Alex Martinez cries during a vigil in his memory wednesday evening. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

1 of 13

Friends and family of Alex Martinez gather outside of the Tutoring Club in Fountain Valley to share stories and give condolences to his family. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

1 of 13

Friends and family of Alex Martinez gather outside of the Tutoring Club in Fountain Valley to share stories and give condolences to his family. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

FOUNTAIN VALLEY – More than 200 friends, family, colleagues and students lighted candles, exchanged hugs and said a prayer Wednesday in memory of Alex Martinez, who died after a car crashed into a tutoring business.

The gathering occurred at 8 p.m. in front of Tutoring Club, the school where Martinez, 32, had worked for seven years.

“I lost everything,” Martinez's younger sister Gwen Martinez said before the prayer. “He was my dad, my older brother. He was the person I looked up to.”

Martinez was the most senior tutor at the school, where he taught math, science, English and Spanish and helped high school students prep for the SAT. Martinez was one of six people injured Monday afternoon when a driver crashed into the Fountain Valley center.

“He was the rock. The big brother to the other tutors,” Tutoring Club owner David Hill, 35, said Wednesday. “The kids loved him. He inspired them to be better and not to settle.”

The UC Berkeley graduate was preparing to apply to dental school before the crash took place about 12:30 p.m. Monday at the center at Brookhurst Street and Ellis Avenue.

“He was laid-back, but he knew his stuff,” said Edison High School student Brian Brancky, 17, who had Martinez as a tutor for six years and was present at the vigil. “I wouldn't have passed Spanish without him.”

Michael Le was another Tutoring Club teacher in the room Monday when a parked 2011 Buick suddenly accelerated onto the sidewalk and into the school. Le, 20, sustained two broken ribs, a hairline spine fracture and cuts on his legs, he said Tuesday. A 67-year-old grandmother, two 15-year-old boys and the 76-year-old driver were treated for minor injuries, officials said. All five were released from the hospital.

Police said they are investigating the crash, and the driver had not been arrested or cited.

Between nine and 12 students, from 8 to 17 years old, were at the center when the car crashed through the glass front entrance, Hill said.

Le said he had finished his lesson plan early and told his two students they could go put away their workbooks. He stood and started walking away from the study area, where two other tutors and three students were working. He said he realized he'd left his sunglasses on the table, so he walked back to pick them up.

Then he heard the distinctive screech of rubber on asphalt. He looked up in a panic, saw a car and heard the crashing of glass.

Le was dragged across the room, he said.

The Buick plowed through tables, chairs and people before busting through the opposite wall, leaving a gaping hole that looked onto the street, he said.

Le remembers breathing in dust from the fallen roof. His leg was pinned under the rear wheel of the car, he said. One of his colleagues, who had been sitting behind him, was trapped under the car's front end.

Le said Hill ran into the room, shouted for someone to call 911, then tried lifting the rear of the car off Le's leg with the help of some burly bystanders.

Related Links

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.